WOW's First Microtransactions Perilously Cute
Don't get me wrong. There's no way I would shell out $10 for what is, admittedly, the cutest lil kitten-esque lichling I've ever seen. But Blizzard has made its microtransactiony debut with the first in-game items available for real-world cash: the equally adorable Pandaren Monk and Lil KT, a Tiny Toons version of megabaddie Kel'Thuzad.
Both cost $10 and don't offer any advantage in-game - they're just pets. The Pandaren returns bows from other players, while Lil' KT randomly freezes "critters" and laughs at dudes you kill.
In a true-to-cannon but also kind-of-dick move, half the purchase of the Pandaren Monk will be donated to the Make-a-Wish foundation, but all of the proceeds from Lil' KT go directly to Blizzard because Kel'Thuzad is evil. That's taking it a little literally there, Blizzard.
So, there's where your friendly neighborhood WoW addict's paycheck will be going this week. Me? I'm just wondering when they'll add a playable Monk class to the game. Hiii-ya!
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 10 November 2009
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: activision, blizzard, lil kt, microtransactions, pandaren monk, world of warcraft, wow
Don't you think 10 bucks is a little to much for just a pet? On the second thought, since the proceeds of the Pandaren Monk's sales will go to this certain foundation, I think that justified its steep price.
... I want the Pandaran. It's the closest I'll ever get to actually being able to play a Pandaran Brew Master. *Sniff*
I had plenty of rant about this last week....
$10 is just ludicrous for these kinds of things...$10 is, literally, 2/3rds of a month's subscription to the game! As if they don't have money coming out of their ears from subscribers as it is, they have to offer in game perks at ridiculous markup...(this goes for the name/race/faction changes and character transfers, to some degree as well, imo)
I dare say it's a slap in the face!
And the whole "Well it goes to the children" bunk is just that - bunk. "Well it's ok that it's expensive cause some of it goes to charity..."
Poppycock! It doesn't change the fact that they're charging $10, 2/3rds of a month's bloody subscription, for a pet =| That's still $10 that will leave your pocket and never return...
And what if I don't want to give money to charity? Do I get a discount? Or a choice (beyond not buying one..)? No...if anything, at that point, it's just like they're just extorting money for charity..
Doesn't seem very charitable to me...=\
Plus, as I understand it, they're only donating that portion for the Monk through the end of the year - then the $10 Monk is just a $10 Monk without any candy coated moral fiber to help you swallow the cost.
And honestly, I don't know that I should mention that they VERY LIKELY have a figure written into the books that they intend to give to the charity -anyway-, and the sales of the Monk will only serve as a means to get back some of what they intend to give....cause that might just make me look a little cynical lol =P
*sigh* But, be that as it may, I've found it really difficult to keep from getting a Lil' KT lol...
And God help me if they offer Spectral Tiger Cubs or something adorable that I can't so easily resist...>_<;
*shakes a fist*
Well Taiko covered most of what I wanted to say, but I do have something to add.
Enough with the pets Blizzard. Give more mounts.
I have more than enough pets already, but there are far too few mounts in the game. Well relatively anyway. If you look at the max pet achievement (75 pets), it's ridiculously easy to get. Yet to get the max. mount achievement (100 mounts), you have to get pretty mcuh every mount possible. Not an easy thing.
Even if they put the pets one at 100, you still have plenty left for it.
Even if they bumped up the pet one
I've personally given up and mailed all my personal details to Blizzard so they can just pull money from my bank account whenever they feel like. That is basically what is happening now.
I saw this last week and the first thing that pop'd into my head was "Damnit... WHERE'S MY CREDIT CARD!!!!" In fact there was an issue the first day this was released where they authorized the $20 purchase but did not complete the transaction so I got no pet. After 3 attempts I decided to go to sleep and try in the morning. Fortunately it worked that time. They still held up $60 in my account for no reason. But I was not upset one bit because I had my Monk doing kung fu and my Lil' KT laughing at foo's I killed in PvP. Can't be too mad.
There are a lot of people who are upset by this. Personally I don't have a problem with it one bit. They are a business. The point to ANY business is to make money. They created a new item to make them more money and I can't hate on them for that. Too often people feel that companies should act like human beings when they are not. They are not your friend, they are not there to make the world better, they are there to turn the biggest profit possible.
I do hope they offer mounts... I'll pay for that too with no problem.
Well you "only" have to pay 10$. in europe it costs 10€ which is 15$. so blizzard is getting 50% more from this from european players. i think it´s one step closer to being able to purchase in-game items like weapons etc.. blizzard denies that thex have any plans in that way, but i don´t believe them. if they see a way to get more money from wow-addicts than blizzard will go that way....
I don't get the complaining about this, personally. It's optional. It doesn't matter if they optionally charge ten bucks or one or a hundred; it's not something you *need*, it won't give any advantage to you for having one, you won't lose any advantage for not.
I got mine the first day it was available because the Pandaren pet is adorable. Didn't even think twice about it.
It's cute
It doesn't add any in-game benefit
One $10 purchase gets you this pet on every character you ever create.
Very adorable pet with pretty advanced animations
I just don't understand the argument that Blizzard should charge less for a product because they have "too much money" already.